Crafting For Those Dedicated to Experimentation

Research

I managed to add at least 13 new breeds to my fiber study. There was one booth that had over 60 breeds, but mostly unwashed wool. Since my mother has COPD (and is recovering from double Pneumonia) I am unwilling to bring unwashed fleece into the house. While I am certain that the sheperds do their best, Wool Washer’s Disease is also known as Anthrax, so I am not going to take chances.

Below please find some of my amazing finds, I cannot wait to get started spinning them!

Above are my two braids of Rambouillet from two different vendors. As you can see one is white and combed top while the other is a natural brown and I believe carded. The preparations and probably micron count are so very different but both are extremely springy. I cannot wait to get my hands on them to test and spin!

Above is my Tunis top, I have half of this section already spun into a single, I hope to ply and create samples over this weekend. It was an amazing spin, if a bit coarse. The dyed blues and pinks have mixed together in places to create an amazing purple effect that I am fascinated to see plied.

The extremely rare hog island I obtained is extremely full of vegetable matter. The texture is very springy and I am looking forward to working with this fiber, but I also believe I might try to use the Hackle to get out a lot of the vegetable matter before attempting to spin this fiber.

I must have jiggled the camera an extreme amount while trying to photograph this Black Welsh, but the fiber is divine anyway. A little coarse, but with that deep black color who cares?

I managed to obtain lincoln roving as pictured here, and lincoln lamb locks as pictured below. I will admit I made a mistake, the lincoln lamb locks are not the beautiful long locks I envisioned, they are quite short and I will probably use them to add texture to a batt instead of flicking them open for a true worsted yarn as I first envisioned. The roving is luscious, though a bit coarser than I was expecting.

This half pound of Karukal is just begging me to sink my fingers into it’s pretty softness and spin like the wind. Soon, I promise soon!

This beautiful black braid of Zwartables is going to be a blast to spin, again it is on the coarser side of things, but who knows what it will do once it is spun and washed. The guessing is half of the fun!

I went a little overboard with the Wensleydale, but I cannot for the life of me regret it. I have this amazing half pound that I can use to spin worsted and see how well the finished yarn takes to dye as well as a braid of yellow Wensleydale near the bottom of the post that I can spin up and see the different shades of yellow pop out!

This braid of Textel seems to be on the downy side of wool, it should be a fun, soft spin, and the resulting yarn will be amazing (in its own way just like the rest of the yarns).

At the Coopworth booth they didn’t have any prepared roving but they did have an amazing selection of curls. I love how they look in their bags and did manage to comb out a tiny portion on my new hackle. They comb out beautifully, I think that as I have time I will pick apart the locks that I can find for combing and then use the drum carder for the rest. This will give me a great chance to explore differences in preparation and how they effect the finished product. So much fun and so much to learn!

One of my patrons assured me that I already had some Finn that they spun as a part of their breed sample. Oh well, I didn’t have it written down as a breed that I own, but even so this is such a fluffy bunch (and I was able to practice on an electric wheel for the first time with some skirted finn at the Folk Art Booth, so there is a special memory in this wool already).

This mohair along with the pink locks below were obtained at a booth with two amazing ladies that offered to let me go see their goats anytime I wanted. Even though I don’t live in Maryland I am tempted anyway! At least I have this amazing roving and curls to play with!

No one ever told me that Cormo is one of the softest breeds ever. I don’t know how this is going to spin up, but for now it is like petting my faux angora, so soft and beautiful!

The Cotswold below is such a delight to pet. I cannot wait to spin it up. The Ross Farm was one of two booths at which I found Four different Breeds that I had not spun yet. It was so much fun finding these different companies that raised or processed different heritage breeds.

This fiber is like trying to spin very coarse hair. I have not gotten a chance to even pull it out of the bag other than the tail sticking out the top but I can already tell that spinning this is going to be interesting. I cannot wait!

The last, but certainly not least, bit of fiber I purchased was some Superwash Targhee from a vendor that is friends with my father’s cousin who took me to Maryland Sheep and Wool on Saturday. The colors are interesting but more than that I love spinning Targhee for it’s springy texture. I am not thrilled that it is superwash, I have heard that some people have skin troubles with the chemicals used to make it superwash, but I look forward to working with it anyway.

So, there you have it, my stash haul from Maryland Sheep and Wool. I cannot for the life of me believe that it was two weeks ago already. Oh well, more time to save up for next year!

I still don’t have any sugar free kool aid, so the sprinkling has not been tested. Darn life getting in the way! Unfortunately the blue wool wound up getting some rust since the pan completely dried out and began to rust a bit. That’s what I get for buying cheap pans, but it is a good lesson for the classes I’m teaching. Take your wool out to let it drip dry. So I had to throw out the blue wool (I might have been able to scour it but didn’t really want to mess with it). Before I did that though, I did try and rinse out the Kool-Aid, and it did not move an inch. The dye seems to have stuck to the wool despite the lack of heat. This makes sense since there are individuals that Ice Dye with Kool-Aid and then do not seem to add heat. I’m very pleased, and I will have to try this again when I have a free weekend and can do all of the steps in a day or two instead of a few days later.

Result: You can dye with kool-aid and no heat. It does remain in the wool, however you want to take it out of your pan to dry, and rinse within a day or two.

I swear I am not going to be happy until I drive my mother completely around the bend. I went to a quilt trunk show, the quilts that this woman produced were remarkable, beautiful, intricate, and so amazing! The most remarkable fact, she Hand-Stitched every one of them! Well, from what I understand she hand stitched the front, back, and the pieces on the ends (they are called something I cannot remember right now) and then someone else did the machine quilting in the middle that has the top, batting, and bottom holding together.

Now I admit, I have dabbled at sewing every now and then. My Grandmother was an amazing seamstress, and could sew about anything you can think of. My experiences with my sewing machine has always been, “Push gently down on the pedal, no a little more, a little more, now you’re sewing at 120 MPH. Now your line looks like there was an earthquake, what are you going to do?” Right about then, I give up.

My only real consolation, and there isn’t much of it, is that Mom cannot even get that far. However, I now have hope. I freely admit, I want to be able to do anything and everything. However, I know that isn’t a realistic goal, that will not stop me from trying. On that note, and with some wonderful encouragement from the woman displaying her quilts, I am going to give hand quilting a try. I think I have the concept of the rocking stitch down. I know how I want to start sewing the squares to minimize waste, I even know how I want to cut the squares. Right now it is just a matter of getting a couple of supplies and giving it a shot!

While I am getting the guts up to try my hand at this, I have decided to try weaving some spring towels for Mom out of 8/2 cotton. Three spring colors and a cheerful variegated. I have the warp wound and about 25% of the reed threaded. One good Nap on Mom’s Part and I should be able to finish threading the reed and start on the heddles, LOL. I have few days off here and there throughout the month in addition to my one day off that I usually have so the extra time can be partially spent toward crafting.

This is a brief article to promote the free pdf guide to weaving tools. I thought that the article, though I really recommend the PDF as well, was thought provoking.

The author, Interweave Editorial Staff, I guess they know who wrote it, begins with an interaction they had with a very enthusiastic “Earth-Mother” Type. *I like to think of them as the Simplicities.* Those that eschew any tools that are above the bare bones basic. Those that say “I didn’t buy a Niddy Noddy, I just use my foot.” Or “I’ll never buy a wheel, why waste the money when I can just spin with a stick.” Or, “There isn’t any need to buy a big loom, I can do anything I need with Backstrap Weaving!” (Okay, the last is an exaggeration but you get the idea.) *

So the author is being lectured about how tools can be very simple and don’t have to be complicated, then they ask the killer question. Why? Why would you want to stick with the simple tools when there are more sophisticated tools out there? *Not that we should all go out and buy a Golding Loom, though that would be pretty neat.* If there are tools out there that help you be a better crafter, and let you get the results you need, then take advantage of them.

*If you have foot, ankle, knee, joint issues, and want to spin then either a drop spindle or an electric wheel might be better for you. If you have rotary cuff problems then you probably don’t want to mess with a drop or supported spindle too much but a nice wheel or electric wheel might do the trick. For weaving, if you have knee, etc. problems then a floor loom with treadles that you have to push down might not be the thing for you, a table loom where you can just flick a switch and the shafts respond might work. If you have shoulder issues then a backstrap, inkle, or perhaps rigid heddle loom might do you more good than a table or floor loom. (I”m not an expert, this is just some advice, for more information contact a guild, health professional, or support group.)

If you just HAVE to try everything in existence out, (and can afford it) then go for it. Honestly you don’t know if something works for you unless you try it out.*

This synopsis is almost longer than the article. But, in conclusion, don’t let anyone shame you. There is NO Cheating in crafting. Even if you haven’t shorn the sheep, washed, processed, and dyed the wool, then spun it, finished it, wove it, cut the cloth, and sewn the shirt, your project is still handmade no matter which step you started your process on and no matter what tools you had to utilize.

I am getting myself psyched up for the Paradise Fibers Spin Along for the Olympics as well as Ravelry’s Ravellenics. For the spin along I purchased the Brights package from Paradise Fibers, it contained a rainbow of colors as well as three other shades off of primary, burgundy, a blue, and a fluorescent pink. I didn’t think that these colors would do much but I wanted to card them with some sparkle anyway. I loaded my handcards, and away I went.

I tried going for a bit of a striped effect but soon discovered that I liked how everything looked when it was blended more thoroughly. I decided to create punis from my carding, since they are so much fun to spin, and I really hope that when I spin them they create an amazing tweed effect.

I decided, rather whimsically, to name them “Unicorn Fluff & Faerie Dust”. They have a lot more sparkle to them in person than they do in this photo.

As for the primary colors, I will make that into another post when I have pictures. I am very happy with how that turned out also.

As for the breed study, Heaven Help Me, I’ve decided to get a bit organized with it. I managed to spin and knit 13 different breeds in January. As stated in a previous post, I need to take more time with them. Unfortuantely for my resolve to move onto something different until I find out what my guild is doing, Camaj Fiber Arts is selling Perenale Wool for $1 an ounce as their wool of the month (which might be different by the time you are reading this post). So I have decided to look through the Field Guide to Fleece by Deborah Robson and Carol Ekarius to see what breeds I’m missing, which I already know are 90+. This should be a blast to work through, and since I have created a spreadsheet I hope to minimize my duplication of effort. In other words, I hope I’m not going to buy a bunch of breeds I’ve already spun, lol. Back to listing breeds. Later this week, or early next, I hope to post pictures of the pages I’ve already finished.

I am having a blast with my breed study. Right now I’ve got one sample blocked, one soaking, and I’m knitting up the last of the breed studies. I’ve got 14 different breeds that I have managed to spin and knit. Some I have managed to crochet, single, double, half double, into samples that are also on the breed study cards. There was an amazing suggestion that I create weaving samples as well. I managed to do so for one of the breeds, at 8epi. I have as much information about how each of the spins were accomplished as I could manage, and I know what I can do differently next time.

The next time I do a breed study, which since my guild is planning on doing some fun spinning event this year might be pretty soon, I know what I can do to improve my spinning. The first change I need to make is the time I spend on the spin. I need to begin to enjoy the spin, working on obtaining a consistent spin and ensuring that I get as much yardage as I can to create samples and discover what I want my yarn to be. I am thinking about utilizing some of the amazing information compiled on each breed then copying that information, with appropriate citations, onto a page placed in the back of each of the breeds I already have present in my study. This would give me an idea about what each breed is good for. I’m enjoying the spinning, enjoying sampling and seeing where things go. I do know that I over-spun the Corriedale at least, but I really enjoy playing with what I’ve spun. It certainly has inspired me to work with some of what I have created.

On a different note, Paradise Fibers has decided to create a Spin Along for the Olympics. They are calling it the Spinlympics, and I plan on joining in. I ordered the Brights pack, since I had a $20 coupon and they were having a 25% off sale I wound up getting the entire thing, shipping included, for $9. The bag that is coming in with the kit is $8 on its own and the sticker would be a dollar as well, so (in my math) the wool, which is amazing, is free, just how I like it! I’m getting my wool tonight so I am working on planning how I want to use the wool. A fun aspect of this is that I am also planning on doing the Ravellenic Winter Games as a fun challenge.

I now have two pages completed for my new fiber artist journal. Grey Norwegian Wool Top and White Charollas Wool Top. They are both spun, knit in lace & cable, then crocheted. Mom suggested putting them in sleeves, which is where the glare came from, so that they will stay cleaner for longer. It was a fascinating experience working with these two fibers and then yarns. I can certainly see why a lot of people are hesitant to take the time to sample. There were seven fibers in the Paradise Fibers Sample Box from January, I managed to spin five up quite quickly. The sixth is spun, but the seventh is going to take a bit of time (I don’t feel too well so I don’t want to spin sick, knitting seems fine though). Since spinning, plying, setting the ply, drying, balling up the yarn, it has taken quite a bit of time for me to knit up a lace and cable sample then crochet the left overs using single, double, half double crochets. Once the samples are knit and crocheted they get another wash, then they are blocked and left to dry for a couple of days. That is what is happening with the Black Welsh Fiber, once it is dry I will get started on the Mixed Blue Faced Leicester (I have the lace knit, I’m working on the cable next then crocheting the rest.)

In addition to creating a new, healthy, useful, practice, I am learning a lot about my spinning. Mostly I am learning that I am not spinning nearly as thin as I thought I was, but that isn’t a bad thing really. I don’t like working with the very fine yarns, okay I do want to make a very light fine shawl some day, for the most part I like having a sturdy yarn in my hand. My knitting has gotten a lot better, I am not really afraid of ‘knit two together, yarn over, repeat 3’. I am starting to understand what the lace looks like, I know I’m not doing it really ‘correctly’ yet, but I enjoy it. My cables are getting better too, talk about something else I was afraid of, and I am starting to understand how many rows should be between cables to create certain effects. The entire process is enlightening. I am beginning to, sort of, see what knitters are talking about when they say that a two ply is better for lace than shawls, but I like how my cables are popping…I think that has more to do with using needles too small for the cables.

This is really a learning experience all around, and I hope to be able to instill some of these practices into my students…LOL. I still have to figure out how to sample my yarns as weaving also. Fortunately I have the backs of these samplers to put any weaving samples I can manage.